Introduction
Palestine is the ancient motherland of the Jewish community and is also known as the holy land. Palestine is geographically situated in Western Asia. It is also known for the historical birth of Christianity and Judaism. Palestine lies between Asia and Africa, a valuable land, marking it as a quality land for other regions. Additionally, its location caused a lot of political violence and conflict of interest in land seizures. Currently, the Palestinians strongly desire to establish a free and independent state. Colonialism is used to compare the history of Palestine and the current situation, as the conflict between Israel and Palestine is unique to the two states. The history of Palestine is associated with political conflict and violence over land seizures; currently, there is an ongoing search for a two-state solution to achieve long-lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.
The First Creep of Colonialism
In the 1880s, Jewish people willing to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, also called Zionists, faced a dilemma on how they would obtain land for settlement. Faced with three modes of obtaining land, including confiscation, purchase, and conquest, the Zionists chose to purchase as they had no army that would aid confiscation or conquest (Helicon, 2018). However, a regional war arose between Zionists and Palestinians over land division and ownership. After the first world war, disagreements developed between Zionists wanting to build a state in Palestine and trans Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon (Helicon, 2018). The Palestinians, however, have an agreement with the British over the governance of mecca due to his support during the war. The Zionists continued to ask for more land and increased immigration into Palestine land. The Palestinians demanded independence from the British through war clashes (Reuveny, 2008). Palestinians disagreed with Britain’s suggestion of partitioning Palestinian land between the Zionists and Palestine Arabs. Israeli colonialism began when Israel started an armistice war with Arab states about partitioning Palestine (Helicon, 2018). With Israel becoming a strong political power, most Palestinians worked in territories that most Israel people rejected as they continued to demand independence.
Partition of Palestine by Israel
With Arab groups claiming they were the majority compared to the Jewish people, they claimed to be given more territory. Britain renounced their support for Palestine and Israel pronounced itself an independent state indicating its readiness to carry on the partition plan. Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan joined to prevent the Israeli plan (Helicon, 2018). The Arab-Israeli war began in 1948 and ended in 1949, with Israel gaining control of over two-thirds of the British mandate while Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip and Jordan controlled the West Bank (Helicon, 2018). In 1948, the struggle between Palestinian Arabs and the Jews involved economic, diplomatic, and political interests.
Formed in 1964, the Palestinian liberation organizations purposed to establish a Palestinian Arab state on land the organization claimed Israel occupied unlawfully. However, the organization agreed that Israel has a right to exist in that land for it to be recognized by Israel formally. West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, and Gaza Strip were all controlled by Israel by 1967 when the war was ending (Reuveny, 2008). The 1967 war created more tension and violent conflict between Israel and its neighboring countries.
The Palestinians developed raging anger over Israel’s continuous occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian militia revolted in the 1987 war, killing hundreds of people (Reuveny, 2008). In an attempt to end the ongoing violence, the Oslo peace accords, a peace process, began. After a few attempts, it failed. In 2000, the second intifada war began after the Jewish prime minister visited the al Aqsa mosque, a move considered offensive by the Palestinians (Reuveny, 2008). The peace process was halted by the ongoing suicide bombs and riots breaking out. The war between Israeli and Palestine lasted five years. Later in 2006, 2007, 2012, and 2014, the Hamas Fatah and Israel had bloody fights (Reuveny, 2008). Many protestants lost their lives through the violence and conflicts associated with protests.
Palestine Current State
Currently, Palestinians are still battling for a state that can be recognized by all nations officially. The Palestinians occupy the most significant areas, including the West Bank and Gaza (Helicon, 2018). However, Israelis still occupy areas that should be under Palestinians’ control. Various international rights alliances consider the areas occupied by Israel as illegal as the borders are not patently defined (Helicon, 2018). Hence, border conflicts and war persists continuously. Few Israelis dissent from the illegal settlements and prefer peaceful ways to solve the war between them and the Palestinians. The Hamas group leaders suggested the formation of Palestine as an independent state using borders defined in 1967 (Helicon, 2018). Still, despite their lack of recognition of Israel, their plan was rejected by the Israeli government. In 2018, many people died after Palestinian protests against the US embassy prompted them to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital (Reuveny, 2008). The ongoing protests have led to the death of many protestants.
Conclusion
The history of Palestine records violence and conflicts over land and border ownership. The war between Israel and Palestine dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The conflicts are triggered by how Israel treats Palestine with inferiority and their Arabic status. Various nationalist movements arise to fight for independent sovereignty over Israel. Upon provocation, Palestine initiated, and Israel initiated violent wars that led to massive deaths. Additionally, the wars affect national economic relations, the Hamas refugees, water, and transport between West Bank and Gaza. However, Palestine and various world leaders continue to advocate for a long-lasting peace-establishing solution.
Reference
Helicon (Ed.). (2018). The History of the Conflict in the Middle East | The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide – Credo Reference. Search.credoreference.com. Web.
Reuveny, R. (2008). The last colonialist: Israel in the occupied territories since 1967. The Independent Review, 12(3), 325–374. Web.